This invention relates to metal shelving and more particularly to a metal shelving mounting clip for supporting shelving on conventional uprights or posts.
Metal shelving, specifically steel shelving, is used widely in industrial and commercial settings for storage and warehousing. Recently, steel shelving has also been appearing on the consumer market and finding use in home workshops and general storage. Steel shelving is strong, inexpensive and has a long life.
Better steel shelving is often sold as a shelving system. The user can purchase prefabricated posts or uprights, shelves, stiffeners, crossbraces, fasteners and other accessories designed to meet specific storage needs as required. Each of these components fit easily together in a multitude of configurations to provide the ultimate user with the means to design his own system to meet his own needs. The interchangeability and wide appeal of these systems allow manufacturers to mass produce very large numbers of standard individual components, thereby maintaining low cost.
Many systems produced by different manufacturers share common characteristics and interchangeable accessories for basic components.
One steel shelving system provides formed steel angle uprights or posts having apertures provided at specific intervals over the entire height of the post. Steel shelves are also provided having a horizontal shelf surface and downwardly extending flanges around the periphery of the horizontal surface. Mounting brackets are provided which have tabs engaging the apertures on the vertical posts, and a portion upward of the tabs in spaced relationship to the post providing a clearance for the flange, the upper end of the upward portion engaging the underside of the horizontal surface of the shelf. These mounting brackets are mounted on four posts which engage the under surface of the four corners of each shelf thereby forming a complete unit.
Difficulties have been experienced with shelving assemblies as described above. Shelves are now constructed of thinner, lighter gauge steel than in the past. The portion of the shelving clip which supports the underside of the shelf often dents the underside of the shelf when the shelf is heavily loaded. If loaded to extreme, the shelf can be pressed down sufficiently on the clip to cause a substantial deformation above the top of the clip. Further, the clip itself does not provide any means to lock the shelf to the post. A blow from underneath the shelf, such as can happen when loading a lower shelf, may free the shelf from the upright at one or more corners resulting in an unsafe condition.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved mounting bracket or clip which overcomes all the above referred to problems and provides for supporting a shelf by its vertical flange and locking the shelf in place on the post.